Recorded with producer David Holman at his studio in Laurel Canyon, “2nd Place” is part pep-talk, part narration of a decade living in Los Angeles. After making ends meet by working three jobs, Natalie Saint-Martin felt burnt out by life. Envisioning her musical aspirations as more and more of a fleeting dream, Saint-Martin decided to utilize these feelings of hopelessness and self-doubt and put them wholly into her craft. Inspired by the lyrical storytelling she witnessed in Atlanta’s hip-hop and country music scenes whilst growing up in the city, Natalie Saint-Martinaimed to focus primarily on one narrative during the writing process: no matter how many times you’ve felt like you’re meant to stay the runner up in life, you are always allowed to be 1st Place in your heart.

OUR MUNDANE OPINION: Haunting, hot & extremely stylish all in one place. Keep an eye out for this edgy artist! 

1. Tell us more about this song. What inspired it?

2nd Place was inspired by a volcanic eruption of self-doubt. I had this pivotal moment in time where all I wanted to focus on was change for the better of my own sanity. Getting rid of whatever voice that kept rambling nonsense about who I am supposed to be. Sometimes it was the voice in my head, sometimes it was the indifferent judgements of others. At the time, I was at a job with someone that made me feel runner up every time I went to work. It felt like I was repeatedly walking into a wall and expecting that it wasn’t going to be painful after a while. There’s never a good reason to put someone down in order to make yourself feel better. But still, people will work so hard to instil self-doubt in you. Usually, the voice in your head is the best at doing it. I felt I was at a cross-road with myself and with others and needed to pave a new direction. 2nd Place was the outcome of that. 2nd Place became the new paved road. Written to be a reminder to myself, and hopefully to others that even though you may feel runner up in every aspect of your life, you are always allowed to be 1st place in your heart and in your mind.

2. What inspires your edgy looks?

I’m not sure. I really love colors. All of them are wonderful but I’ve always gravitated towards pink and black. I loved the dress I wore for the 2nd Place music video, I bought it at a thrift store near my house for $15 bucks. They thought it was a 1950’s dress that you’d wear to a funeral. Who knows… 

I thought of wearing two separate shoes and Nike socks simply because I liked how they looked. I had worn my shoes like that working in a restaurant so guests would remember me, and the idea started there I suppose. Everyone asks if I had to buy two pairs of the same shoes, just in different colors… And yes, I did, hahaha. The black pair I bought new, but the white I found at a different thrift store and they were 75% off what they normally were so OF COURSE I got them. They still had the damn tags on them! That felt like thrifted divine timing.

3. How do you want your audience and fans to see and perceive you as? 

However they’d like to see me 🙂 

Beauty is up to the eyes of the beholder, but I suppose I’m not after beauty. So much of our world gets compartmentalized into little boxes. I am chasing after what’s real. These days it can be hard trying to recognize what is real and what isn’t. Life is a series of hard times in paradise… We all have the most incredible experiences to share with the world, but distilling them through only one lens feels unfair. I think so many people want to live honestly and that truth of life gravitates like minded people together. I like to write from a place where I feel myself and the rest of the world can relate in some way, whether it’s good, bad or indifferent. We’re on this earth to listen and to learn, everything I write is like a secret lesson life taught me. I think sharing those experiences is what it’s all about, and I want the audience to feel safe in that space.

4. What’s the best lyric you ever wrote?

I’m not sure if I have a best lyric. I really love the opening verse of “Thieves”, which was the first single I ever released with my producer David J. Holman.

The opening line is “I curse like a sailor, but never go to the beach… if changing my mind was a job that could pay me, I might have more patience than God at his knees… Waiting for myself to find who the fuck I’m supposed to be.” I love this line so much because it’s true in every form. We all change our minds, and pray everything will work out. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. But when you stay on the course of trying to be your most authentic self, you will reveal that who you are “supposed to be” is ever-changing and growing. But your truth was always there all along.

5. What artists shaped your creativity?

I love John Prine, Regina Spektor, Roger Waters, Amy Winehouse and Nirvana. If all of them had a love child, I would hope that I’d be it. These are the artists that shaped me sonically and lyrically. John Prine was a master of songwriting and I adore everything he ever wrote. I fell in love with Regina Spektor as a 12 year old just trying to find something interesting to watch on YouTube. To say the least, I was infatuated. It was such a contrast to the heavy metal I grew up listening to with my father. My mother loved The Beatles and Bob Dylan. But Regina captivated my emotions in a way I had never experienced before. I will always aspire to write the universal truths these artists wrote and sang about, seemingly, so effortlessly. They are masters of songwriting and masters of taking the listener on a journey into the familiar feeling of the unknown. 

6. How do you usually spend your spare time?

I hate and love this question. Because like most people, spare time can seem so limited! I’m one of those people that could have 100 calendar updates and planner entries, and somehow find a way to forget about leaving room for self-care time. However, when I do find myself grasping on to the spare time I have in the day, I always sit with my dog Rufus and try to write. It’s just what I love to do most. If inspiration is trying to get my attention and if I am present enough to engage, then I will try to write a new song. Sometimes this works, and I’ll write something invigorating and new. Most other times, I’ll stare into a page scribbling down ideas until I realize I don’t like what I have written and I will start over until something sticks. If I am distracted and thinking a hundred different thoughts, then I try to write about what’s bugging me. I’ll impatiently wait for my irritated feelings to subside, and when they do…  Usually I am already writing something new. Spare time looks different for everyone, I’d say mine looks like a blown up pile of notebooks in my living room. Hahaha, oops!

7. How do you want to evolve as an artist and creative? Any specific goals you set for yourself?

I want to release a new song every two months until I have finished my album. I’d like to write with as many people as possible, of all different genres. I think great songs always tell a story. I was 10 or 11 at the time, watching a Stephen Sondheim documentary and felt so in awe of the way he articulated “the creative process”. At one point he was asked what he thought “makes a song great.” And he said something to the effect of “Great songs always have a beginning, middle and end. Much like great stories and novels, you must take the audience on a journey.” That has stuck with me ever since. I hope throughout the course of my career or throughout my ever evolving creative process, I never lose touch with the feelings I have when I hear a great story.